D&D Virtual Tabletop Announcement
Image credit: Wizards of the Coast
“Late 2023” you and your party will be able to playtest the official Dungeons & Dragons Virtual Tabletop according to Wizards of the Coast.
The virtual tabletop was announced summer of 2022 as part of One D&D, which is currently playtesting.
The video above provides a first look at the Virtual Tabletop, showing off dice rolling, combat, movement, and the building blocks available to creature your own 3D environment. There is also a mention of D&D Beyond and the capability of uploading your characters directly. YES please.
The video clip is more interview than gameplay footage, but what is shown looks polished and fun. But is this the answer?
Part of the magic D&D provides to its players is the ability to do anything you want, leaning on your imagination to find fun, silly, or fucking broken ways of overcoming challenges. I have to imagine that loading in a scenario to the virtual tabletop provides a video game-like experience, but is that what players want? I would be curious to chat with players and DMs alike, in regards to how they prefer to play.
My group, as you can see from the videos we have posted, have leaned on Skype and Owlbear to provide for our playing needs. I like to lean on the players to communicate where they are, how they are getting there, and what they are doing. As a player, I appreciate this freedom as well. Owlbear has enough functionality to allow players to move freely while providing a visual on their location, as well as the NPCs they are fighting. This method feels much more like an actual turn based tabletop gaming experience. Based on the footage, the officially licensed tabletop plays much more like a video game.
Let me be clear - I love video games, but D&D scratches a completely different itch. NOT THAT KIND OF ITCH…
Blurring the lines between the two makes me nervous. As of now, I am planning on sticking with the current solution for longer campaigns. Is there a place for a virtual tabletop like this? Sure. I think for combat this solution could be top tier. Imagine setting up a boss battle for your friends and playing that out in unreal engine 5. For those who have played out “A Wild Sheep Chase” (minor spoiler ahead) - tell me that squaring off against an animated dragon made out of furniture in Unreal 5 doesn’t sound like a good fucking time. Oh by the way - watch us square off against said furniture dragon here:
Thinking about combat in the virtual tabletop is actually mouthwatering. If it flows as well as the video portrays, it may actually speed combat by doing quite a bit of heavy lifting that normally falls on the DM, such as tracking initiative for the party & the NPCs, dice rolls, damage, etc… For my group as well, I could see this making combat encounters more tactical. A lot of the time we tend to talk about our location, the order we are walking in, and estimating on the fly how far everything is. That works well for us but I do see how the virtual tabletop would remove the error, and the “meta-gaming”. No more “Yeah - the tank was definitely leading the way when that cheetah surprised us, not the bard. Totally not the bard…”
I’ll absolutely be looking to play-test this solution and determine how it fits in with my party. I am hoping the customization tools are robust, and that the community creates mods faithful to what we picture we are fighting. The D&D community are the real heroes, and I am looking forward to what you/we will bring to the table - the virtual table…
For those who play virtually now, what is your preferred method? What have you found works well, and where do you feel improvements can be made?
-DJDiabeets